猛鬼大厦

　　某艺术院校学生小武（翟文斌 饰）、慕凡（王一 饰）、柳丝丝（何杜鹃 饰）、凌菲儿（柴碧云 饰）驱车来到位于郊外，租住了当地的四合院。这是一座古色古香但是颇为阴森的老宅，周围的住户似乎对此也多有忌惮，欲言又止。夜深人静，四合院突然断电。四个青年男女无聊至极，决定玩传说中的禁忌游戏笔仙。但是无所畏惧懵懂无知的小武竟然问起了笔仙的死因，之后也未将笔仙送走。在此之后，诡异的事情接连发生，半夜从远处传来的戏曲念白，挂满死猫的树，柳丝丝深更半夜的恐怖举止……如是种种，无一不在搅扰着年轻人们的神经。
　　恐怖的究竟是这个院落还是毫无形状的笔仙，抑或是……

　　汤尼和茱莉亚是一对假面豪门夫妻，汤尼是成功的整形外科医生，以“验收成果”之名，屡屡与接受隆乳手术的女客人乱搞，对D罩杯情有独钟。而茱莉亚为了挽回婚姻，她斩断跟马修的婚外情，接着与老公安排了一趟海上出游，她们的女儿则偷偷跟上了船。心有不甘的马修租了另一艘游艇尾随他们出海，突如其来的暴风雨打乱所有人的计画，汤尼救了一艘海上漂流的充气艇，落难的男子竟是马修，茱莉亚只有佯装不认识。汤尼接着找到马修的游艇，游艇上被褪去衣衫的女子宣称遭到马修强暴并监禁在船上，汤尼开始担心妻女的安危……

　　准妈妈露西亚搬到了一个偏远的林间小屋和她的祖母一起居住。尽管四周看起来很安全，但露西亚被不详的记忆萦绕着，感觉“那家伙”会不惜一切来找她。。。

　　Carl Kolchak is a newspaper reporter with an abrasive personality that has gotten him fired ten times from various big-city papers. Now he's reduced to reporting for a relatively small-time paper in Las Vegas. It's here he gets the story of his life. But will the local sheriff, or the D.A., or even his own boss, let him print it? He has an ally in the FBI agent brought in to investigate this strange case. It seems someone is biting the necks of young girls and draining their blood. Can this killer with supernormal powers really be a 70-year-old Rumanian millionaire? Can he really be a vampire? And can an aging reporter do anything to stop him?

　　Constantly on the hunt and suffering from hallucinations that drive his violent nature, an unnamed man is capturing women and savagely beating them to death. Meanwhile, a woman is luring men into a violent end, by way of her knife. Driven by the same force to make the opposite sex suffer, the killers’ fates intertwine. The two must face off in a battle to the death, in which they are forced to reveal the horrible truth behind their addiction to murder.
　　“Brutal” takes an interesting approach to its visuals, drawing heavy influence from Western “Grindhouse” films, using a filter to make the footage appear grainy, damaged, and with light and color fluctuations. Unfortunately, the visual styling ends up feeling misguided, as other than applying the filter it does not imitate any other aspects of the “Grindhouse” genre. Despite trying to dirty up the film, it is apparent it was shot on digital. The cinematography is also a step above most “Grindhouse” productions, with Takashi Hirose proving he has talent behind the camera. Exterior shots to those taking place in small spaces are all competently framed, lit, and transition well. The decision to add an effect on top of the work hurts the film’s imagery and even gives a sense of desperation to try to capture a certain type of nostalgia with the audience, instead of relying on its own strengths. It is unfortunate when one creative choice can hurt a production so much.
　　The story of “Brutal” is simple but effective, it does attempt some sort of social commentary about the violent nature of men and women, but it does not offer enough depth into the subject to justify the amount of violence on display. The film does end on a strong note with an interesting twist, with a reveal that is bound to gross some out, while giving others a chuckle. In spite of its simple nature, those who enjoy films that make them somewhat uncomfortable and enjoy the challenge of getting through some ultra-violence, “Brutal” poses a fun and entertaining challenge in that regard.